


Looks

by simoneallen



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-07
Updated: 2010-08-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 23:48:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simoneallen/pseuds/simoneallen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James T Kirk isn't unaware of his looks...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Looks

Captain James T Kirk was not someone who was unaware of his looks.

It had started early. He’d been an unconscionably lovely baby. The type of baby who led a midwife who’d seen countless newborn infants of every conceivable level of sweetness to declare that this was one she could just pick up and take home with her. Even the previously grumpy doctor who’d been called in to assist at the end of a long, hard shift brightened considerably when he set eyes on the newborn baby Jim. Such were the proclamations of his adorableness that his mother had clutched him tightly to her chest, suddenly afraid someone might snatch her precious bundle of baby cuteness away from her.

When Winona took her little boy home from the hospital and then out into the big, wide world to show him off, the oohing and aahing didn’t abate - if anything it moved up a notch or two. You’d expect it from the baby’s daddy, wouldn’t you? And from his excited big brother and doting grandparents, from family friends who’d been eager to greet the new arrival. But delivery drivers? Security guards? Hell, his dad even swore he once heard a Vulcan cooing over the baby in his buggy - although there’d been no one around to verify that particular claim.

As Jim got bigger his baby sweetness gradually grew into cherubic toddlerness. If his big hazel eyes and his curls of blond hair didn’t win you over in a nano-second, or his chubby little legs a moment later - and the hard-hearted souls who failed to be won at this point were few and far between - then his dazzling smile and the way he reached up with trusting arms to cuddle anyone he met would never fail. Everyone loved Jim, and Jim loved each of them right back. 

Then he started kindergarten and, right, you guessed it, he was teacher’s pet from the very start. He didn’t even have to be good. He was always getting into places he shouldn’t, always scraping his knees and bumping his head, and he barely got through a day without tearing his shirt, but one look at the contrite smile on his small, round face and who could be mad for long? The other boys and girls should have been jealous but they never were. The way in which Jim threw himself headlong into adventure - leading foraging expeditions for worms in the garden, building forts and dens, laughing and picking himself up whenever he fell, and encouraging them to do the same - only won him their admiration and awe. They would gladly follow him wherever he chose to lead them.

His parents worried that all the attention would make him big-headed, that he might become vain. They hoped that as he went through grade school and high school, he’d realise he couldn’t get by on looks alone, that his smile wouldn’t always be enough to get him what he wanted. But as it turned out, Jim was a genius. His brains could get him to where he wanted to be as easily as his looks. And Jim worked as hard as he played, with every bit as much success. If such a thing were possible, the golden boy shone even more brightly than before. He was gorgeous and he was clever. And, yes, he knew it.

In high school, Jim learnt to make the most of how he looked. He discovered that a tight-fitting t-shirt and snug levis would make it even easier to win over whichever girl or guy he might have his eye on that week, that day, that hour. He took care over his appearance. He thought he might as well use the attributes he’d been born with - and there was no harm in accentuating them. While other teenagers were awkward and gawky in their adolescence, Jim glowed with the confidence that comes with knowing you’re meant for something special, and he had the wardrobe that a boy who was going places should have.

It was only natural that where he was going was StarFleet Academy. It was the most prestigious school on the planet, the place that children dreamed of getting to, the first stepping stone on the way to a life among the glittering stars. Even there, Jim stood out. The youngest. The brightest. The best. And, obviously, the most handsome. It goes without saying.

If there was one thing that could serve to make Jim look better, it was a uniform, and a uniform is what he got. The very few Humans, male or female, who could resist his charms before, crumpled when faced with him in StarFleet gold.

Jim went into space, and found a whole new playing field on which to try out his charms. Aliens of all shapes and sizes, colours and cultures, beliefs and religions, none were immune. Seemingly, even androids couldn’t claim to be emotionless when it came to Jim. He still barely went a day without ripping his shirt, but since he looked just as good out of it as he did in it, this didn’t tend to bother him a great deal. He was James T Kirk, and he looked the part. Even covered in mud and blood, battered and bruised, his uniform in shreds, he always looked the part. He looked like the action hero he was.

The next stage in Jim’s life, was one that could have been foreseen. There was a rightness to it, an inevitability. If anyone was going to lay claim to being the youngest person in StarFleet history to have a captain’s stripes adorn their arm, then it would be Jim. He was so proud as he boarded the Enterprise. His ship. His command. Everything he had ever wanted. And if he’d looked good in the uniform before, then the stripes certainly didn’t make him look any worse.

Jim never minded the attention he got. He liked it. If occasionally, in his darker moments, he wished people wouldn’t judge him on his looks before anything else, then he soon put it out of his mind. He was the dashing, handsome captain and that was how he wanted it to be.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu gave a double take as the captain walked down the corridor.

Kirk smiled widely. “Morning Sulu,” he said brightly, then nodded at the helmsman’s companion. “Uhura,” he added, throwing the smile in her direction as he strode past them towards the turbolift.

Sulu and Uhura, just coming off their shifts on the bridge, stopped in their tracks and turned to gaze after him. “What the hell is that all about?” Sulu hissed as soon as Kirk was out of hearing range.

Uhura shook her head, nonplussed. “I have absolutely no idea,” she answered, her tone one of disbelief.

Kirk stepped into the turbolift. “Bridge,” he commanded.

As the 'lift doors opened, Captain Kirk squared his shoulders and walked out onto the deck, ignoring the curious looks from the bridge crew. He held his head high and smiled his greetings at them as he moved to sit in his command chair. No one said a word.

He looked around and met the eyes of the Vulcan at the science station. Spock nodded at him and turned back to his readings, feeling a little curl of satisfaction inside as he concluded that his gift must have been a suitable choice, despite the doctor’s guffaws of laughter when Kirk had unwrapped it the previous evening. Spock was unaccustomed to procuring gifts. It was not the Vulcan way and he had been concerned his selection processes might have been flawed. It was gratifying to know they had not been.

StarFleet’s golden boy leant back in his chair and gazed out at the stars, his hand resting casually on his stomach, partially covering one antler of the glowing, festively lit reindeer that danced across the front of his sweater.

He glanced over at the first officer who was completely oblivious to his own beauty and who wouldn’t think any less of Jim if he grew horns and took to wearing a tutu over his tunic. He absently stroked the wool of the sweater and smiled contentedly to himself.

No, Captain James T Kirk was not unaware of his looks. But, after all…looks aren’t everything.


End file.
